Karaoke Night
by HarvestBeauty
Summary: It's karaoke night down at the Regal Beagle. Guess who has to get up and go sing? Group fic.


_A/N: I love it when a character has a secret talent and thought it was so cool when they gave Larry the ability to sing (6X12). It makes no sense to me that they undid that just under a year later (7x10). Plus, I wanted an excuse to write a story involving one of my favorite songs in the whole world._

_Also, I am SO sorry for spamming the site. I am honestly not trying to, it's just that after a really long time of not writing anything, it's like I have suddenly had a truckload of ideas dumped onto me...more than I can keep up with. Certainly more than I've had happen to me in years. I finish one story and another idea pops into my head out of nowhere! It's crazy!_

_A/N # 2 (updated since 2-17-2020): I have been told that I would have to get rid of the song lyrics or face having my account closed due to copyright issues, so I have re-uploaded the story without the song __lyrics...kind of ruins the story, since this was supposed to be a tribute to the song Stand By Me by Ben E King, but whatever. Grrrrrr! :( Don't bother to review this again, it is the same story that I wrote months before just without the song. I'm just doing this to avoid getting into trouble._

Everyone clapped politely as the drunk man mercifully finished his song. Larry clapped particularly loudly as a show of support. After all, he knew what kind of guts it took to get up there and sing in front of everyone. Also, he just really appreciated music and performance. Or maybe he was a little more drunk than he thought.

Larry, Jack, Janet, Terri and Mr Furley were hanging out at the Regal Beagle. A fun and new activity was going on tonight at the bar: karaoke night. Everybody was having a blast laughing at and cheering each other on as they drunkenly sang popular songs. Surprisingly enough, no one from their little group had the nerve to go up and sing yet, not even Larry. It puzzled Jack, he knew that Larry loved to sing...or at least, he used to until he bombed at the bistro last month. It definitely seemed to humble him a lot.

"Alright, who's next?" The host scanned the crowd for volunteers.

"Larry will go." Jack clapped his best friend on the back harder than he meant to, causing him to choke a little on his beer.

"W-what?" Larry stuttered in surprise. "You can't be serious? Not after the bistro incident."

"Yeah, Jack. Let him hang onto what little dignity he has left!" Mr Furley insisted, causing Janet and Terri to toss their heads back in laughter.

"Yeah!" Larry nodded along with Furley's comment, before catching on. "Hey, wait..."

"I agree, no one wants to hear that again." Terri shook her head, earning a glare from Larry. "I mean that in the _nicest _possible way." She followed up with an over the top sweetness.

"Yeah, Jack. Don't put us through that again." Janet laughed, rolling her eyes.

Larry bristled a little bit inside. Was he really that bad?

"Maybe you're right..." Jack sighed. He shook his head as if trying to clear it. "I think the beer must be getting to me..."

Larry smirked. Okay, that was it.

"No, I'll do it. I'd love to sing. What a _wonderful _idea, Jack." Larry shot back with a sarcastic cheerfulness. "It's so nice to see that my friends believe in my abilities so much."

He got up from their table and walked calmly and confidently to the center of the room as the rest of the bar clapped and cheered. He had to admit, it really hurt to hear his friends talk about him in that way. He knew he wasn't the best singer in the world, but they were being just a bit too harsh, tipsy or not.

"Now look at what you did!" Janet hissed as Jack hid behind a menu. Terri lightly smacked his arm with her hand.

"What would you like to sing?" The host asked Larry.

Larry leaned in towards him and whispered something that no one else could hear. The host's eyebrows shot up in surprise.

"Excellent choice! And who, if anyone, would you like to dedicate this song to?"

The trio and Furley hoped and prayed that Larry would dedicate the song to the current girl he was dating so that they wouldn't be blamed for what was about to occur.

"I'd like to dedicate it to my friends sitting over there." Larry grinned, making a sweeping gesture over towards where they sat. Jack chuckled nervously, Janet smiled uncomfortably, Terri sunk down into her seat slightly, and Furley just looked off to the side, pretending he didn't know who Larry was referring to.

"How nice!" The host smiled. "Whenever you're ready."

"Larry, maybe you shouldn't do this..." Jack called out weakly.

"Too late, Jack. You asked for it." Larry playfully winked at him.

The host went off to the side and the bar quieted down as Larry stared down at the floor, trying to calm his nerves. Everything was silent as Larry mentally prepared himself. The gang didn't know what to expect from this performance. He loved music and he wasn't completely void of talent...when he sang for Jack when Jack wanted to serenade his girlfriend, he actually sounded quite good. But his attempts at singing at Jack's Bistro were cringe worthy and over the top, like the corniest lounge singer you could possibly imagine. It wasn't that his voice was bad per se, but his natural flair and theatrics kind of overtook the performance in a way that wasn't good. They wondered what kind of performance they were in for tonight.

Groaning in embarrassment, Terri covered her face with her hands. "Please be good, please be good..." She muttered to herself.

"Terri, it's Larry we're talking about here. What do you think is going to happen?" Janet whispered to her.

The silence in the bar was pierced by the gentle opening notes of the song Larry was going to sing. Nostalgic "awwww's" rippled around the room as people recognized the number: Ben E King's 1961 hit Stand By Me. Terri got chills, she _loved _that song. She peeked through her fingers and saw Larry moving with the beat and getting into the groove of the song...no elaborate choreography, no jazz hands, just movements with the grace and instinct of a natural dancer, as if his body was conducting the music itself and the music was flowing through him.

And then he began to sing the first verse.

Jack, Janet, Terri and Mr Furley's jaws dropped. The patrons of the bar quietly murmured their approval. Larry's whole demeanor changed. A song like this commanded sincerity, quiet strength and a sense of wisdom, which Larry seemed to be channeling in spades. No showiness and not a false note. His voice had changed too. There was a certain raspiness in his tone that they have never heard before. His voice took on a soulful quality. They didn't know Larry could be such a good mimic. Had they not known better, they would've sworn it was the original singer singing this song, not their wacky and zany friend and neighbor.

Terri shivered. She really liked this maturity that Larry was showing right now, even if it was just a role he was playing.

Jack marveled at the change in his friend. Through the alcohol induced fog in his brain, Jack wondered what made this performance so drastically different than the ones in his bistro, when the thought finally occurred to him...it was ego based. When Larry serenaded his girlfriend on his behalf, he was doing it to help his friend without even thinking. When Larry wanted to sing at the bistro, it was plotted and planned and done for attention. Even tonight, Jack himself had to volunteer Larry. Larry didn't even want to sing, and was perfectly happy just watching and listening to the others in support. Larry had no time to prepare or to think about his performance, he was just forced to wing it.

Finally looking at his friends for the first time during his performance, Larry made eye contact with the girls, first with Janet and then with Terri. He then addressed Jack and Furley as he continued to sing. Up until then, they had forgotten that Larry had dedicated this song and performance to them. It touched all of them very deeply, particularly Janet. The brunette girl got teary eyed as it hit her: the lyrics, the music, the theme. It was a very emotional song, very bittersweet. It was one of the few songs that would work perfectly for a wedding or a funeral. It was very much a smile-through-the-tears type of song and, indeed, Larry appeared to be tearing up a little bit as he moved into the second verse.

Furley was moved by this performance as well. He'd never expected nor seen such emotional depth from Larry before. He also had never had anyone sing to him. Janet quietly offered him a tissue and he took it, blowing his nose as he looked over at her. He was relieved he wasn't the only one crying. Janet laughed through her tears and shrugged, wiping at her eyes with her own tissue.

The orchestrated instrumental break came on and Larry was grateful for it as he tried to gather his emotions. He didn't mean to get this emotional, but this was the kind of song that brought that out in people. He just hoped he could make it through the rest of the number without completely losing it. He meant every word he was singing to his friends. He launched into the rest of the song with a renewed strength.

The music slowly faded out, and the room erupted into whoops, cheers, whistles and applause, the loudest of which were coming from Larry's companions. The entire room was up on its feet. It was by far the biggest reaction of the night. Larry was taken aback. He thought he might've been dreaming. It became more real to him when he saw his friends cheering for him, up on their feet. Furley was clapping enthusiastically, Jack was using his fingers to whistle loudly, and Janet and Terri were clapping proudly for him with tears in their eyes. Whatever control Larry had gained over his emotions beforehand was rapidly becoming undone. He laughed a little bit, genuinely surprised and touched at how this night turned out. After a mock bow, he started to make his way back to his table. He was not prepared for his friends to get up from the table to meet him halfway with a sort of group hug, well, group crush was more like it. Everybody crushed in around him, talking excitedly over one another and congratulating Larry on his performance. It was a little too overwhelming. Larry grew strangely silent, which his friends immediately picked up on.

"Larry?" Terri questioned him. "Are you okay?"

Larry smiled warmly at her, fighting back happy tears. "I'm just wonderful, Terri. Thank you for asking!"

THE END


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